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Affluent Investment Plans Affected by Washington, D.C.

Affluent investors are paying less attention to Stock Market Conditions as a factor in their investment plans. According to the Spectrem Affluent Investor Confidence Index, 18 percent said Stock Market conditions were a factor in their investment decisions, which was down significantly from the 37 percent who looked at Stock Market Conditions in July.

However, Affluent investors say they are keeping an increasingly watchful eye on the Economic Environment and the Political Climate. October was an especially fractious month in Washington D.C. with lawmakers unable to fashion a bipartisan solution that would have averted the government shutdown. The shutdown and subsequent finger-pointing was coupled with the escalating debates over the debt ceiling and attempts to defund the Affordable Care Act. Several national polls found American consumers decidedly downbeat about the direction of the economy and the government’s handling (or not handling) of it.

Sixteen percent of Affluent investors surveyed said that the Economic Environment is the one factor most affecting their investment plans today, up from 13 percent three months ago. Similarly, seven percent said the Political Climate is affecting their investment plans, up from three percent since July.

Another factor with an increasing impact on Affluent investment plans is Household Income, which edged upward from four percent three months ago to eight percent in October.

Seventeen percent of Affluent respondents said that Retirement is the most impactful factor influencing current investment plans, unchanged since July.

Among Affluent investors, Millionaires put slightly more weight on Retirement as a factor influencing their investment plans, 19 percent vs. 17 percent, while Affluent investors overall are more likely than Millionaires specifically to cite the Economic Environment, Household Income and the Political Climate as the factor most affecting their investment plans.

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